SALEM, N.H. – At 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-4 inches tall, respectively, Salem High hockey brothers Elliot and Brody Chisholm face fear every time they hit the ice, knowing some six-foot-something defenseman could punish them via a devastating body check at any time.
But that fear is minuscule compared to, say, coming face-to-face with a giant black bear.
Like the Salem boys saw in the middle of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, during one of their epic hiking excursions they made with their mom and two other brothers during a lunch break.
“When we saw the bear, we were all in shock,” said Brody, about the incident from the spring of 2023. “We were all wondering if this bear was about to walk within ten feet of us. We all stayed still at first, watching with adrenaline rushing, until the bear finally got too close for comfort. We all started yelling and were making noise, which to our relief scared the bear off.”
Since 2021, the Chisholm Family have hiked over 9,000 miles between four different trials from the Eastern and Western parts of the U.S. and Canada.
They have literally seen and experienced it all, including terrible storms, hypothermic conditions, rattlesnakes, waist-deep rushing glacial rivers while also hiking through snow and icy traverses.
They have seen beautiful tourist areas such as Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, while being able to “Cowboy Camp” sleeping under the stars for 340 nights in three years.
Their love for the outdoors started with their mother, Jennie, who grew up competing in field hockey, on the ski slopes and crew, before turning to running and taking various hiking trips to the White Mountains.
When her youngest son Asher turned four, he joined mom and his three older brothers Ben, Elliot and Brody, and hiked their first 4,000-footer together in New Hampshire.
Since then, the family has completed most of the 48 four-thousand footers in the Granite State, which led to the first adventure, the Appalachian Trial. From March 19 to August 3 of 2021, the family – minus dad, Gary, who had to stay home to work – took 138 days to hike 2,193.1 miles from Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Me.
In April of 2022 they hiked the Pacific Crest Trial going 2,650 miles from the Mexican Border to the Canadian Border.
In April of 2023, they hiked the Arizona Trail, which is 800 miles from the Arizona Trail to the Utah Border.
Nine days after coming home, they went back out to Mexico and hiked the Continental Divide Trail, going 2,700 miles from the Mexican Border to the Canadian Border.
“The weather was the best on the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Cascade Mountains were epic. The views and the remoteness of the Continental Divide Trail were incredible and Glacier National Park was breathtaking,” the five of them agreed.
They can take these trips together as Jennie, a former teacher in the Nashua School District, decided to home-school her boys, which gives them these unique outdoor opportunities.
“We make sure we get all of our work done and then leave for a trip in the spring,” said Brody.
Jennie said that once the family started taking their hiking hobby to the next level, the quest was to complete the “Triple Crown” – the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Trails – before the boys were out of high school.
Well, they’ve been there and done that, being among approximately 700 people to have finished the three longest trials in the country.
“The time spent is invaluable. The experience of being in nature and the wilderness for extended amounts of time and working together for months on end toward an extremely challenging common goal is unique — truly a gift and has provided so many opportunities for learning and growth,” said Jennie.
“The places we have walked, the off the beaten path parts of the U.S. that we have seen, the kind people along the way, the challenges overcome,” she added, “the exercises in survival and perseverance are too many to count.”
Survival instincts the family have exhibited might be trumped only in pride.
“There are so many things that I’m so proud of the boys for enduring and conquering – the elements, diversity of nature and making our way day in and day out through storms, dangerous weather, wildlife and the exhaustion, inconveniences, sickness, ailments or injuries that arose, but didn’t stop them from succeeding at every trail,” she noted. “Each trail in and of itself seems to have a lifetime of memories, lessons and stories to share.
“I cannot put into words what this means to me. I think about what a blessing it has been, and I am aware of how unique this is, and I am incredibly proud of the boys for reaching so many goals and accomplishments,” said Jennie. “I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to do all this with my four boys and that they have these unique, incredible, life-changing shared experiences that they reminisce about and will continue to connect over for the rest of their lives.”
Back to the ice
Besides hiking – and running ultimate marathons (see adjacent story), both Elliot and Brody are members of the SHS cross-country team, including the latter being named to the Eagle-Tribune All-Star team.
Their passion for hockey also started at a young age when their father taught them how to skate.
“We have a pond that we can skate on. We have it all rigged up with lights and a shed and go out there and play some pond hockey. We work on our shot, we skate around and it’s a blast,” said Brody.
Last year Brody was the youngest of three Chisholm boys on the roster. Towards the end of the season, the three of them – Ben, Elliot and Brody – were on the same line together.
“Ben was a good addition to our line,” said Elliot. “Me and Brody would cycle the puck down low and get it to Ben up high, and he would put it in the net.”
This season, the two have played important parts in the Blue Devils’ strong 11-2-2 start. As linemates, Brody has 8 goals and 10 assists and Elliot has 5 goals and 7 assists.
“They bring energy and just work so incredibly hard. They never stop,” said head coach Mark McGinn. “They never complain. They are willing to learn. They are tough on themselves, so I really don’t have to say a lot. They grind and they grind.
“They are the do-leaders,” said Coach McGinn. “They do it on the ice and not in the locker room. They play hard. They go, go and go. They’re intense and I just love the way that they play.
“And if you stack them on each other, they may be six feet tall,” said McGinn with a big laugh, “they play like they’re six feet tall and fearless.”
Probably because they are.
You can email Jamie Pote at jpote@eagletribune.com.